Criminal Records Checks

Verifile is a registered Umbrella Body of the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS), Disclosure Scotland and Access NI​. This entitles us to countersign applications on behalf of employers, the voluntary sector and charitable organisations across the United Kingdom.

Three types of Criminal Disclosure

There are three levels of criminal record disclosure available in the UK:

• Basic Disclosure: Searches the Police National Computer and discloses all convictions which are not spent under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act. It discloses all such convictions, or states that there are none.  Basic Disclosure is available for any position and thus, it is the most commonly used disclosure, suitable for all industries.
  The typical turnaround time for a Basic Disclosure is 5-10 working days.

• Standard Disclosure: Searches the Police National Computer and discloses all spent and unspent convictions, cautions, reprimands and warnings.   Standard Disclosure can only be ordered for positions that meet certain eligibility criteria. 
  The typical turnaround time for a Standard Disclosure is 5-10 working days.

• Enhanced Disclosure: Searches the Police National Computer and discloses all spent and unspent convictions, cautions, reprimands and warnings. In addition, an Enhanced Disclosure may contain non-conviction information from local police forces. Enhanced Disclosure can also check the relevant ISA barred lists to ensure the individual is not barred from working with children and/or vulnerable adults.
  Enhanced Disclosure can only be ordered for positions that meet certain eligibility criteria. Typical positions available for this level are those working in regulated positions (eg. training, supervising etc.) or regulated places (eg. schools, hospitals, care homes etc.).
  The typical turnaround time for a Enhanced Disclosure is 2-4 weeks.

UK Criminal Records Statistics

We have some new stats UK criminal records: the percentage of candidates with convictions and the turnaround times for completing these checks in 2015.

These figures are across all clients and during the period of 2015 as a whole. The turnaround time was calculated from the moment the relevant government agency accepted the order. This way we have eliminated the time it takes to collect the required information from candidates. This is due to a high variance between clients on the time taken to collect this information, and also the quality of information submitted to us at the start of the process.

England and Wales:

• Regulatory changes for the provision of DBS checks

Scotland:

• Protection of Vulnerable Groups